The gaming landscape

Hey there AO. What do you feel about the gaming industry? Are you a child of the 80s/90s, who grew up on the NES, Genesis, and N64? Are you satisfied with the way things are changing and moving along, or do you find yourself saying "man...they don't make games like they used to anymore..."?

Personally, I feel that too many of the same kind of game is being created these days. More accurately, more of the same kinds of games are being funded, published, and marketed. I grew up playing the Sega Genesis; games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Road Rash, Streets of Rage, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat. I still have love for those games, but was able to move on to the N64 and enjoy brilliant games such as Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart 64, Perfect Dark, Ocarina of Time, and Pokemon Stadium. PS1 gave me my first taste of Tekken, Gran Turismo, and Tony Hawk, and then I feel I hit a peak with the PS2.

Oh PS2...what a great system you are. Final Fantasy X, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Rogue Galaxy, the .Hack series, DDR, Midnight Club, Need for Speed Underground 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Guitar Hero, Persona 3, and amazing sequels to most of my favorite PS1 games, as well as "classic collections" of my favorite Genesis games.

These days however, I simply don't see the innovation. Everything has been done a million times before, and often times it has already been done better. I wish games would go back to being about gameplay, and less about how much the game cost to create, who does the voice acting, and what hotshot developer is backing the project. None of it matters, I just want my game to be fun, and to stay fun.

I'm thankful for Borderlands, Valkyria Chronicles, Catherine, and Tales of Graces f, but those kinds of games are so few and far between, and with the exception of Borderlands, they don't even sell very well and rarely spawn sequels or games created in the same vain. I also miss co-op. Waking up in the morning, and joining my older brother downstairs at the Sega Genesis, with a plethora of games to play together, be it vs or going through the games stages as partners. I don't need a big budget blockbuster, I just want to have fun, and be challenged. That isn't as complicated as the industry is making it, we had it with the tech of the 1980s (Asteroids or Pac Man anyone?).

How do you feel about the progression of games, and about the current gaming landscape?